Method and means for forming roofing tile



Sept. 4, 1934 J. w. PEMBERTON Err AL l 1,972,312

METHOD AND MEANS FOR FORMING ROOFING TILE Filed March 15, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @bg/MM xl/torneys SePt, 1934- J. w. PEMBERTON Er AL 1,972,312

METHOD AND MEANS FOR FORMING ROOFING TILE Filed March l5, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In ventor.:

I ma@ lIornejS Patented Sept. 4, 1934 PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND MEANS Fon FORMING RooFING TILE John Wilmer Pemberton, YSanta Monica,y and Rufus Bradley Keeler, South Gate, Calif.; said Pemberton assignorto said Keeler y Application March 15, 1932, Serial No. 598,990

3 Claims.

Our invention relatesv to rooling tile and has particular reference to the vmethod of forming roofing tiles imitating the handmade Spanish roo!` tile.

In the construction of missions and other ancient buildings in the western part of the American continent, a roong tile was developed which was formed `by hand of a slab of clay, the slab tapering in thickness from one of its ends toward the other and being benty along its width about' the knee or leg of the maker, so that the nishedproduct hadsubstantially the contour of the upper portion ofthe legof the manufacturer permitting the tile to be placed upon the roof with the thick ends of the upper course of tile to overlap the'thin ends of the next lower course.

An object of our invention is to provide a method of readily forming tile having the appearance of these ancient tiles from fa slab of material of uniform thickness.

Another object of our invention is to provide a method of forming tile from a slab of material of uniform thickness, in which one of the vends is bent to form an inwardly projecting'flange, giving the appearance of increasedthickness at this end. Y

Another object of our invention is to provide means for forming a slab of clay of uniform thickness into the configuration of an elongated semicircular cross-section tile having an inwardly turned flange at one end, giving the appearance of increased thickness at this end.

Other objects of our invention will be apparent from a study of the following specification read in connection with the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a form or mold around which a slab of clay may be bent to form a tile.

Figure 2 is a perspective view illustrating a slab of clay bent around the form illustrated in Figure 1. Y

Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating a formed tile, a portion of this being broken away to illustrate the cross-sectional configuration of one `end ,of the tile.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view through a press, which may be employed to form the slab of clay around the mold or form shown in Figure 1; Y

Figure 5 is -a detailed sectional View of a portion of the press shown in Fig. 4; and

Figure 6 is an end elevational view of the press, shown in Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings, we have illustrated r in Fig. 1 an inner mold, around which the slab of clay or other material from -which the tile is to be made may be bent to obtain the desired configuration of the tile. The form is illustrated as comprising an elongated body portion 1 in the top of a sector of a frustum of a cone, that is havingfa substantially semi-circular lateral cross-section,l the form being 'of substantially the same length as the desired finished tile and tapering from one of its ends 2 to the opposite end 3. The'larg'er end of the form 1 is illustrated as being provided with a handle 4, by which the form'and the tile may be manipulated during the process Vof manufacture.

i In Fig. 2 we have illustrated a length of ribbon of clay 5, whichV may be'formed in any desired f manner, although we prefertoform the same by extruding a continuous ribbon of clay of uniform width and I thickness and cutting the same into suitable lengths 'slightly in excess of the length of the form ormold 1. The length or 5 slab of clay 5 may be taken fromV the extruding -machine and placed over the form or mold 1 with the longer axis of the slab 5 paralleling the major axis of the form 1,'*and withone end 6 of the' slab 5 overlapping the larger end 2 of the form or mold l. The sidesof the slab 5 may then be bent downwardly around'the form into the position-illustrated in Fig. `2. The mold or forni 1 and the slab-5 'may then be pressedagainst a trimming wirey 7 or other suitable cutter which 85 will trim the overhanging edges of the slab 5 even with the underneath surface of the mold 1. The underneath surface of the mold 1 is illustrated as constituting a plane extending through the axis of the cone, of which the form is a sector.

The slab 5 and mold 1 may then be placed upon a suitable supporting surface 8 and a press placed over the same which will press the overhanging end 6 of the slab 5 downwardly to form an inwardly extending flange 9 giving the appearance of thickness to that end of the finished tile.

The press which may be used is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 as comprising a base 10 constructed substantially as an inverted open box having an interior contour conforming with the upper surface of the form or mold 1, and of such dimensions that when the base 10 rests upon the supporting surface 8 all portions of the length of the s1ab'5 will be contacted by the inner surface of the base 10.

VOne end of the base 10 is provided with a longitudinally movable slide or plunger 11, this plunger comprising a semi-circular flange 12 extending inwardly of an end frame 13 of such contour and dimensions as to t within the extending end 14 of the base 10. We prefer to form the forward face of the flange 12 with a forwardly extending fillet 15 to round off the corner of the slab 5 as the overhanging end 6 is bent downwardly. s

The frame 13 is illustrated as being mounted for reception by means of a plurality of klongitudinally extending rods 16 suitably guided by lugs 17, 18 extending outwardly from the frame 10, the rods 16 being connected to a cross-head 19 connected by means of a toggle lever 20 to an upstanding lug 21 formed integrally with the base 10. The toggle lever 20 may have one of its links 21 extended as at 22 to receive a handle 23 by which the toggle lever y20 may be operated. Thus, after the handle 23 is pressed downwardly, as viewed in Fig. 4, the end frame 13 willbe drawn inwardly to engage the overhanging end 6 of the slab 5 and thus bend the samedownwardly and inwardly to the form 1 until the overhangingend 6 is pressed into an annular recess 24 formed upon the larger end 2 of the form or mold 1.

In order to prevent the pressure so exerted from lifting the frame 10 from the mold or form 1, one or more forwardly extending shoes 25r may be secured to the end frame 13, these shoes having their inwardly projecting ends tapered as at 26 to slide under the lower vsurface of the form or mold 1, thus insuring a clamping relation between the frame 10 and the form 1 during the time the pressure is exerted.

By referring particularly to Fig. 3, it will be observed that the nished tile has the general contour of the form or mold 1 with the inwardly extending ange 9 formed thereon, the inner contour of which is substantially the same as the contourr of the opposite or unanged end 27 of the finished tile, so that when these tiles are placed in position the flange 9 on the upper course of tile will seat accurately over the smaller 4end 27 of the next lower course of tile.

1t will, therefore, `be observed that we have shown a method of forming tile from slabs of clay of uniform thickness, the steps of the process including the bending of the tile around an inner` in described permits of ready manufacture of such tile, since once the slab of clay 5 has been placed upon the form 1 the same may be readily manipulated without removing the slab from the form, thus avoiding all possibility of deformation of the tile which would result from manual handling of the same away from the form.

While we have shown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention, we do not desire to be limited to any of the details shown or described herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a device for forming roofing tile, an inner form comprising a body member of a length substantially equal to the length of the finished tile `and having a semi-circular cross-section tapering from one of its ends to the other, and a press for forming the end of said tile comprising a base having a contour conforming with the contour of said form, a plunger slidably mounted in one end of said base, means for moving said pliuiger longitudinally of said base, and means carried by said plunger for engaging the undersurface of said form when said plunger is moved inwardly of said base.

2. The method of forming roofing tile from a ribbon of substantially uniform thickness, which consists in cutting the ribbon into slabs of a length in excess of the desired finished tile, bending the slab about its longitudinal axis to form a surface oi a sector of a frustum of a cone, trimming the edges of said slabalong a plane parallel to the axis of said cone and pressing the larger end of said slab so formed inwardlyv to form an inwardly extending flange. Y

3. The method of forming roofing tile Vfrom a ribbon of material of substantially uniform thickness, which consists in cutting the ribbon into slabs of `a length in excess of the length of the desired finished tile, bending said slab'about its major axis into a longitudinally tapering semi circular form, trimming the edges of said slab along a plane passing through a chord of said semi-circular` cross-section and bending inwardly the larger end of said slab so formed to form an inwardly extending flange at the larger end of said slab. f v.

JOHN WILMERPEMBERTON.

l vRUF'US BRADLEYVKEELER. 

